


Heartbeat

by AwokenMonster



Category: Are You The One? (Season 8), Are you the one?
Genre: Angst/Comfort, Fuck that cliffhanger shit, M/M, Stress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 08:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20327851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwokenMonster/pseuds/AwokenMonster
Summary: With every perfect match Danny pointed out, Max could feel the ache in his chest grow.Max/JustinRated T for the show's nature





	Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> Monster: Hi guys! I have a couple of things to say, I think. First off, I have barely slept due to the Jax stress since the episode aired at 4am for me. My chest has been hurting since yesterday night for this ship. I need them to be a match to restore my faith in love at this point.  
Second off, I won't be able to write as much as I did the last 3 weeks due to a large workload but I do have another one I'd like to write soon.  
Third off, I get uncomfortable when Max and Amber post pictures together because Amber has been extremely toxic in the last 2 episodes. How can you chase your best friend's boyfriend like that? I know it's been months and I don't hate her present appearance for doing that months ago, but I just get a bit squirmy when I see their pictures together instead of more Jax. I'd prefer if Max and Justin gave a sign of life for the ship besides yesterday's "I love you" cause I feel like our ship is about to die. I know there's a preview for a next episode with a matchup ceremony but like some user said, it could be a fake just to make sure no one goes "OH THEY WIN WITH JAX!", you know. I mean, I'm not very optimistic at this point but it could be. Terrence seemed happy with the current matchup choices.  
Did anyone listen to The Nosh podcast with Max? Cause boi, he spills some tea around the 35th minute about being a top and the first time sex with Justin. Like - I'm not allowed to write a fic about it out of respect for our Kings but boi, I would if I could. And I don't get it. Danny said that Justin said "I wish my match would bottom" sooo... Does that mean Jax is a match or am I looking too deep into things here?
> 
> Like I said, I have a lot to say but truth be told, this shit is starting to hurt instead of just fun shipping. Oh and Kai's face at the matchup with Remy and going "strategy" to Terrence was probably the most disrespectful thing towards Remy lol. I love Remy so much. It should be an honour to be his match. Just like Danny. It's a win-win for Kai. He either gets Remy or Danny. Danny is so pure and sweet. Max is right about thousands of people lining up for Danny.
> 
> Enjoy

“That means you’re a match!” Danny called.

Justin could feel Max shrink by his side. Jonathan and Basit were a perfect match, confirmed by the matchup ceremonies. Nour and Jasmine were a perfect match, also confirmed by the matchup ceremonies.

Him and Justin? As soon as Jenna and Paige or Kai and Danny or both were a match, Max and Justin were invalid. Max rubbed his chest subconsciously, feeling a deep ache that didn’t disappear with a soothing rub. With each perfect match that was pointed out, Max felt his heart ache more.

_You’re not a match. The odds are stacked against you_.

He clenched his jaw, face growing redder the more they talked strategy. Who the fuck cared about the money? He didn’t. He only cared about being with Justin and if they had to be a perfect match to stay together, then he wanted to believe they were a perfect match until the show was over.

Justin had his arm around Max, rubbing small circles on his back and leaning in to whisper: “I believe in us, Max.”

“No, I do too but…” Max let the sentence trail off.

“Can we just celebrate this perfect match?!”

It was Jonathan and Basit but Max could see some of the house try to hush them for his sake. The last thing he needed, was for them to celebrate all happy and high while Max and Justin were the couple with the most at stake.

While everyone else was figuring out “oh they’re not my match!”, Max would hear “The person you fell in love with… Your first love. Is invalid. Your feelings don’t matter anymore. Now watch him move on to the next.”

Max knew for sure he wouldn’t be able to move on from Justin. He’d fall apart and it would take too long for him to rebuild himself. He had never felt this way about anyone before.

“Relax”, Justin hushed him with an arm around his shoulder but Max could feel that a smile was far out of reach right now. He’d rather cry than laugh at this point in the game. It was making him sick. It was the worst feeling he had ever experienced. This house and this game offered him his first real love, convinced him he was capable of loving someone, but this house also had the ability to rip away his beloved Justin at any point in time.

Maybe their biggest mistake was to sit together from the first week and remain together with no confirmation whatsoever. Maybe the others should’ve taken them more serious and sent them to a truth booth to either confirm them or debunk them. Instead, they ignored their connection until it deepened and connected them to the core.

Max furrowed his eyebrows, glancing at Justin. “Would you be able to find your match if we're not a beam?”

Justin whipped his head sideways. “What kind of a question is that? We _are_ the beam.”

Maybe Max was the emotional one out of the two, always wondering if Justin would stay with him. Wonder if Justin was his match. Wonder what would happen if they weren’t. He saw all what-ifs float through his mind. He was the insecure one.

But Justin!

Justin denied the chance of them not being a match until it was confirmed that they weren’t. He refused to acknowledge that his feelings were invalid. Max may not always see just how much Justin loved him, but Justin would _break_ if they weren’t a match.

“They say you can die of a broken heart. Broken heart syndrome”, Max muttered, staring at the tiles of the floor. There was a stain on one of the tiles because Kai dropped his plate of food last time and he hadn’t been able to clean it all up. Max scrunched his nose, thinking of all the bacteria living on those tiles after all this time. Gross.

But no one took responsibility to clean it up.

“We are a match, Max. You’re my perfect Max”, Justin said. He moved to stand in front of Max and took his face into his hands to hold his gaze. “I’m in love with you. That has to count for something? What are the odds I could fall in love with someone who’s not my match?”

“What are the odds you fall in love with your match the first week?” Max replied, nervous expression on his face. “I’m sick of the stress. My heartbeat’s all weird since we started talking strategy. Since we decided to use the matchup to figure out if we’re a match next time.”

Justin placed a kiss to his forehead. “It’s been a rough night. Why don’t we go to bed? Let the others keep talking strategy. You don’t need to hear any more of this.”

Max nodded, following Justin a little lost and splitting up to go to their respective bathrooms. Jasmine was in the bathroom when Max entered.

She looked at him through the mirror. “It’s gonna be okay, you know.”

Max shrugged in response. “If we’re not a match, I’ll most likely ruin everyone’s fun by shutting down. I don’t see how that’s okay.”

“You’re gonna be a match. We’re all praying for you – except for Amber but she’ll come around”, Jasmine smiled and Max made an effort into smiling back. “Thanks, queen.”

Once Max got his hoodie and sweatpants on, Jasmine raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to bed already?”

“Yeah. I’m not feeling very well, sorry”, Max mumbled and she nodded with a sympathetic expression.

Justin lay on the bed they shared, looking at Max with all of the fondness in the world when he came to sit on the bed.

“Don’t stress”, Justin said, pulling Max close against him so he rested his chin on top of Max’ head. Max could hear Justin’s heartbeat. “Aren’t you nervous?”

Justin hummed in response and Max closed his eyes, pulling up his knees to sink into Justin’s comfort. “I wish all of this was over. I don’t wanna wait another few days before I know what’s gonna happen to us. I need my heart broken _now_ or not at all.”

Justin stroked down his arm, calm and reassuringly. “You’re not gonna get your heart broken. I’ll always be there for you.”

Max leaned over to pull the covers over them. “I just want this all to be over.”

He scooted into Justin’s arms and closed his eyes, feeling Justin’s lips on his cheek. An arm wrapped around his shoulders and another arm pulled Max close by the waist. Justin could feel Max’ heartbeat against him. It was quicker than usual. An obvious sign Max was stressed out. Justin tried to shrug it off and closed his eyes too. It was dark outside so it wouldn’t be too hard to sleep before the house would. They were never bothered by the noise of the others anyway.

Max shifted, a nervous little move with his feet every now and then. Justin clenched his jaw and tried to ignore it but it was clear Max wasn’t relaxed enough to sleep. “Max, please, relax and go to sleep. Being all jittery isn’t going to help us.”

Max pressed his face into Justin’s chest. “I can’t relax.”

“I’ve got something to help you relax~”, Justin smirked but even in the dark, he could see Max’ scorching hot glare in his direction. “I was kidding, babe. We’re good. I love you and you love me. We’re gonna be fine.”

Max kept staring at him in the dark. “Even if we’re not a match?”

“We are a match regardless of what the matchmakers say. You’re the only one for me”, Justin nuzzled his cheek. “Now, please, get some rest so you won’t be extra stressed tomorrow.”

The other let out a sigh and nested himself back into Justin’s arms to sleep. While his mind kept pestering him with “Next matchup… Next matchup… Hey next matchup… That’s gonna be it. For you guys. Good or bad news. It’s gonna happeeeen.”

Max frowned, trying to push the thoughts away when Justin caressed down his cheek and back up. The frown melted off Max’ face until nothing but a peaceful expression was left. With every touch, Max recalled a good memory he had with Justin and he recalled life outside of the show. He remembered Justin and him could still pursue a relationship if they were truly in love. Whatever was meant to be, would be in the end.

His breathing slowed and so did his heartbeat. Justin pressed a final kiss to his forehead and closed his eyes as well.

How could anyone ever deny they were perfect for each other?

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment, they're our heavy fuel.
> 
> Next plot is probably gonna be another sad one because I'm really not... hopeful. I don't dare hope for a happy end for Jax. But I'll try to pick up a few happy plots while I'm swimming through the 2 weeks of No Jax.  
I'm actually happy it's gonna be 2 weeks because I have an important deadline next Tuesday (the episodes air Tuesday 4am for me) and I don't wanna fuck up my deadline cause I'm crying with a bucket of ice over Jax, you know.  
I was hopeful Jax was a thing after the episode until I checked Twitter and found all of those assholes shitting on Jax again...


End file.
